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Earthquakes

A massive earthquake struck near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on April 25. It had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, and was large enough to be felt in the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, India, and China. More than 7,000 people have died, and even more have been injured. This is the season for climbers to make the trek up to the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth which sits on the border between Nepal and China. The earthquake caused an avalanche on the mountain which killed some climbers. The government and many international organizations are trying to help people affected by the earthquake.

Another earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck in the Pacific between the nations of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands on May 7. No major damage has been reported from it.

Here is a list by the United States Geological Survey of the world’s ten largest earthquakes recorded since 1900.

Nepal was ruled by kings for 240 years until the country’s last king stepped down in 2008.The country is now a democracy. One issue Nepal has faced in the last few years is trying to draft a new constitution. After the king stepped down, the country was going to adopt a new constitution. However, because of disagreements amongst various political parties, a new constitution still hasn’t been passed.

Here are two videos explaining earthquakes.

Did you know?

Nepal is known as the “trekker’s paradise”. Of the 10 highest mountains in the world, 8 are in Nepal.